Improvement in machines for splitting and bundling wood



2 Sheets--Sheet1.

L. ILLIAMS. Machines for Splitting and undfling Wood. No. 134,339. Patented Dec.2,4,1872.

2 Sheets--Sheet 2.

W-. L. ELLEAMS.

Machines W SpHHing and Bunflfling No. 134,339. Patented Dec. 24,1872.

Iii/JIM Jan MW zMW/Jwm WILLIAM L. WILLIAMS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

lWlPRGl/EMENT IN MACHINES FOR SPLITT'ING A-Nfi BUNDLING WOOD.

Specification forming pait of Letters Patent No. 1134,33t3, dated December 24, 1872'.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L.W1LLIAMS, of the city and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Splitting and Bundling Kindling-Wood; and the following is hereby declared to be a full, clear, and exact description of the said invention.

The wood is fed along automatically in a trough by rollers similar to those shown in Letters- Patent No. 81,123, granted to me August 18, 1868, and 117,952, granted to me August 8, 1871, and it is split up by a diagonal knife with a zigzag cutting-edge. The mass of split wood as it stands in the trough is supported by a concave wood-gatherer corresponding, or

nearly so, with a ring-formed knife that cuts out from the mass of wood the amount required for a bundle, and this is lifted by a follower and forced upward through the ring-knife. A pair of slides now compress the bundle and hold it while the wire is being applied and the ends twisted together. The follower descends and the wood-gatherer passes forward, carrying the pieces of wood, and positioning the wood at the end of the trough ready for the next separation by thering-cutter.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section; Fig. 2 is a plan; Fig. 3 is a cross-section at the line a; w,- and Fig. 4 is the holding and twisting jaw for the wire, in larger slze.

' The bed a has side pieces b b, forming a feedin g-trough for the wood. The splitting-knife 0 stands in a diagonal position, and is made with azigzag edge so as to splitthewood up into small pieces by a succession of blows or cuts as the wood is moved along progressively in the said trough. In order to actuate the knife 0, I make use of the shaft d and crank, rotated by competent power, and I employ rollers e e to feed the wood along, said rollers being'connected by gearing. I prefer four gears working into each other, and on a hinged frame, so as to allow of using different lengths of wood. These rollers are actuated by a pawl upon the ratchetwheel f, said pawl being moved by the connecting-rod g to a crankpin on the shaft d, said pawl being hung in a swinging box, at, and having a projecting pin, 2, that is acted upon by a lever, h, so as to disconnect and stop the feeding action at the time the bundle is being cut from the mass of split wood and elevated for binding, as hereafter described.

At the sides of the trough b are yielding bars 6, acted upon by springs so that the wood will be kept upright upon its end; but the pieces will not become blocked or wedged, as would be the case if the trough I) had rigid sides; and the sides I) b are furthest apart at the delivery end of the trough, so that the wood will have more space to stand in after it is split up. The split wood in the trough is forced along by the pieces of sawed wood supplied through the feed-rollers e e, and at the end of the trough a sliding gatherer, l,is provided, with a concave or curved end for gathering the split wood into the form adapted to bundling. This gatherer 1 yields as the wood is pressed along, the spring 8 allowing of this movement. A ring-knife, m, is mounted in a block, to, above the wood in the trough, and is operated by side levers n and links 0 acted upon by the cams p. Beneath the ring-knife m there is a follower, a, of a size and shape to pass through the ring-knife m These parts separate from the mass of split wood the wood that is necessary to form a bundle. As the wood is fed along the slide 1 yields, but supports and gathers the split wood, so that the mass at the end of the trough is of the shape, or nearly so, of one side of the bundle; therefore, as the ring-knife m is brought down it separates the wood at one side from the rest that there is in the trough, and then the follower it forces the wood up through the ringknife, so that the wood projects above the block w more than half the length of the pieces of wood. As the follower descends and leaves the wood' projecting to be compressed and bound with a wire, as hereafter described, the

slide 1 is projected forward again by means of the spring 8 to gather the pieces of wood into a mass for the next bundle, and this slide, passin g over the follower before the latter has sunk to the level of the bottom of the trough, prevents the pieces of wood falling over. If any pieces should fall, or chips remain upon the bottom of the trough, they pass away freely at the end of the trough beneath the slide 1. The lever 1", attached to this slide Z, is acted upon by the cam 0", which is so shaped that its movements will be in harmony with the other parts and I remark that the shaft 1/, carrying the cams 10,32,17, and 31, is to be rotated in unison with the shaft d,by a

chain and chain-wheels or other competent means to cause one revolution of the shaft t to the required number of reciprocations of the cutter or knife. The cam 32 operates the follower u. The sides b of the trough are divided at b, the portion at the delivery end swinging upon a pin, 40, and movin g in unison with the ring-knife m to clamp or release the mass of split wood. The camslots in the links o which move the ring-knife act, by connections 41, to spread that portion of the sides bf as the knife enters the wood and compress the mass as the knife asscends.

Upon the top of the block w, in which the cylindrical knife m moves, are ways in which clamping-jaws o a slide, to seize and compress the bundle of wood while the wire is being applied to the same. These jaws are actuated by the levers 12', links 15, slide-block 16, and

lever 'w to the cam 17; and this cam 17 is shaped so as to bring up the compressingjaws at the proper time, and then relieve the strain and move them back after the bundle has been wired. The wire is laid around the bundle and into notched ends of the tighteneners 20. and then beneath the clamping-finger i. The clamp I is in a shaft, :0, through which passes a slide,21, operated on by a lever, 22, and the cam 23 on the wheel 24'; and from this lever 22 are links to the levers 25 that move the tighteners 20; and upon the wheel 24 are teeth 38 upon a portion of the periphery, sufficient in number to revolve the wheels 27 and 28, and rotate the shaft 00 in twisting the wire. The operation of these parts, therefore, is that when the wire is passed around the bundle into the tighteners 20 and beneath the finger z, the tighteners draw the wire together at the point where it is to be twisted, the finger i holding the ends, and then the rotation of the shaft and finger twists the wire together so as to hold the bundle firmly, and as the machine completes its movement the fingeri is released and the bundle is ready to be lifted off, as another mass of wood is lifted by the ring-knife and follower, to be acted upon as before. The finger i may be a standing hook and the wire be clamped by a moving block, or both parts may-be moved to and from each other. In bundling kindling-wood directly from the splitting-machine there will be splinters and chips that might obstruct the movements of the parts. I therefore make use of the fan-blower z, with nozzles w and 10 to direct a blast of air at the parts of the machine contiguous to the bundling and wiring mechanism, so as to blow away these loose particles of wood. The lever k that lifts the pawl of the ratchet-wheel f isjoperated upon by the cams 31 upon the shaft t, so as to stop the feed of the wood while the ring-knife is descending. The pawl 42 engages the wheel 27 to hold that and the finger i in position as the gears 27 and 38 separate; and this pawl 42 is lifted by the cam 43 as the teeth 38 engage the wheel 27. In this manner the momentum of 27 is checked and the parts held in position.

I claim as my invention- 1. The trough b with an open end, in combination with the gathering-plate land the bundling mechanism, substantially as herein described, whereby chips and misplaced pieces of wood are allowed to pass out of the end of the trough, as set forth.

2. The compressing-jaws v, in combination with the actuating-levers v, links 15, slideblocks 16, and lever w and their operating mechanism, as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The notched tighteners 20 actuated by the levers 25, in combination with the holdingfinger e and the twisting mechanism, substantially as herein set forth.

4. The holding-fingeri in the shaft 00 that is revolved periodically for twisting the wire after the same has been laid beneath said finger, substantially as set forth.

5. The wood-splitting mechanism acting upon the wood within the feeding-trough, in combination with the bundling mechanism, herein described, that removes the wood directly from that trough and forms the same into bundles, as specified.

6. The side-bars b of the trough moved simultaneously with the ring-cutter, and acting to hold or release the wood, as and for the purposes set forth.

7. The feeding and splitting mechanism, substantially as specified, in combination with the automatic bundling mechanism, substantially as set forth, when the parts are constructed and arranged as specified, so that the feeding mechanism is inoperative while the bundle of wood is being taken out of the trough, as set forth.

8. The Wheel 27 and sectional gear 38 for moving the shaft and finger z, in combination with the holding-pawl 42 and cam 43, as set forth.

Signed by me this 21st day of September, 1871.

W. L. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses Gno. T. PINoKNEY, CHAS. H. SMITH. 

